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I'll be going to the open house tonight in Aylmer, maybe I'll get some answers to my concerns listed above.
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I'll surely see you there! But let me see if I can answer some questions beforehand.
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Originally Posted by agl
Number of transfers required: While I agree the station radii walking distance can be extended when considering LRT/tramway over buses, the reality of mostly suburban Aylmer is that a large portion of commuters will need to get on a bus or drive their car in order to access a station, as opposed to the 40 series buses loop de looping through neighbourhoods before heading east. Then at the end of their trip on the tramway, those with a destination a km or more from a station in Hull will have to get on another bus, including a transfer to Rapibus. Everyone headed to somewhere in Ottawa will also be required to transfer, possibly more than once (while the Alexandra Bridge is a great option for crossing the river, providing direct service between both downtowns, I really don't think there will be buy-in to close the bridge to cars). I understand and support a hub and spoke type transit system requiring transfers, but it relies on a trunk line with sufficient frequencies in order to attract more ridership, which is my next concern.
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This will happen one way or another, bet it by bus or rail. The reality is that Ottawa (for better or worse) wants to essentially eliminate STO buses from downtown. So to reduce the number of vehicles at peak, the STO will have to move from a trunk system to a hub-and-spoke system, signalling the end of the transfer-less rush hour buses.
And one way/bridge or another, LRT will head to Ottawa for precisely that reason. Don't give up on the Alexandra bridge just yet.
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Potential drop in Frequency: Assuming more capacity on a tramway than bus, I fear it will not run as frequently as the buses it's replacing. And while I believe commuters will accept a transfer if it means a faster and more comfortable ride, the drop in frequency on the tramway trunk line will lead to excessive wait times, especially in off peak hours. I have seen references to studies on this forum often enough that demonstrate commuters may be willing to accept transfer, but only if they're kept waiting a short time.
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I wouldn't worry too much about this. Even in ridership-starved US cities like Norfolk (whose LRT hardly scratches 5 000 rides per day), a tram arrives every 15 minutes at most 7 days a week (although it's every 30 minutes after 10pm). Aylmer and Plateau alone average over 20 000 rides with the current system and would conservatively exceed 30 000 with the tram. We should manage to at least match those off-peak 15-minute frequencies.
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Route through downtown - The proposed rue Taché route options through Hull (rapid transit on Allumetières through Wrightsville roundabouts should be a nonstarter) either never leave the Taché corridor, or do so only briefly via Lucerne behind UQO, returning back to Taché prior to the St-Joseph intersection. Taché east of UQO is a significant bottleneck, so what's the point of creating a rapid transit system, bus or tramway, that slows to a crawl through downtown? The major reason the Ottawa North-South LRT route was cancelled was because of the surface route through downtown. Why are they not considering continuing the B1 Lucerne variant route option along the old rail right of way behind UQUO all the way to Eddy and beyond, possibly coordinating with the ZIBI development? Unless you can tell me they can squeeze two sets of tramway tracks (or bus lanes), with stations, plus minimum two car lanes on Taché between UQO and Eddy, how are these proposed routes creating rapid transit?
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I'd imagine that the old railway would indeed be used from UQO to Eddy. I would certainly push for it. The problem is that both neighbourhoods which that alignment would cross fought hard against a proposed busway in the 90s which would have passed there (see Viabus).
I've spoken to the association for one of the neighbourhoods, Val-Tétreau, and their concern is that the ever-growing number of buses required to transport the ever-growing volumes of people from the west of Gatineau downtown will increase the burden of noise, dust and unsafe sidewalks they already carry. Perhaps worse still, the peak buses are already full once they get there, meaning that they deal with the downsides of hundreds of buses, but only gain the benefits of a fraction of that.
However, they spoke very enthusiastically about the tram, seeing it as a way to trade loud, lumbering diesel buses passing several times per minute at peak with no room for new passengers for quiet, electric trams running every few minutes with capacity to spare. They made it clear to me that they would not accept a new Viabus running on that alignment, but that LRT would be welcomed.